1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a battery terminal harness and, more particularly, to one insulated battery terminal harness having improved fastening means preventing the application of reverse polarity voltage to a circuit connected to the harness.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For proper operating, many battery-operated electrical circuits, including virtually all electronic circuits, must be connected to the battery with a particular polarity. In other words, the "positive" polarity input terminal to the circuit must be connected to the positive or plus terminal of the battery, and the "negative" polarity input terminal to the circuit must be connected to the negative or minus terminal of the battery. To assure the proper polarity connections, it is common to use batteries having dissimilar terminals and battery terminal harnesses having mating dissimilar terminal connectors. By connecting the harness to the electrical circuit in the desired manner, the person using the circuit can be assured that the battery is connected to the circuit with the correct polarity since the battery terminals and the terminal connectors will mate with only the desired polarity. Nevertheless, it has been found that reverse voltage can be applied to the circuit if the harness connectors are inadvertently pressed against the battery terminals in reverse orientation. While the battery terminals will not mate with the harness connectors in the reverse orientation, the short-term reverse voltage applied to the circuit in this manner may damage or lessen the reliability of the circuit. Accordingly, it has heretofore been common to protect the circuit against the application of short-term reverse voltage by means of an appropriate diode or other one-way protective device. This approach is not always desirable, however, since such protective elements may introduce operating deficiencies or excess cost.
U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 3,419 for "Battery Terminal Harness for Preventing Application of Reverse Polarity Voltage", filled concurrently herewith by Harry Albinger, Jr., and Kenneth E. House and assigned to General Electric Company, provides an inexpensive and effective means for preventing the inadvertent application of short-term reverse voltage. More particularly, the above-identified patent application teaches the use of an insulating cover member on the battery terminal harness for preventing unwanted contact between one of the terminal connectors and the non-mating battery terminal. The insulating cover member of the above-identified patent application snaps into position on the harness, and it has been found in practice that the cover may become dislodged if not handled with reasonable care. As a result, there is a possibility that the cover can come off of the harness, and, if the cover is not replaced, reverse voltage can again be applied to the harness and any circuit connected thereto.